Building Blocks
by Lucy Ruth
Summary: Follows on from my other CSI fanfic - Just Another Nobody - so to fully understand, you might wanna read that first :) contains a mix of my fave characters, regardless of whether they were on the show at the same time ... I have also invented a couple of characters, but I don't think they'll be starring roles! Enjoy :D xxx
1. NOTE

Hiya!

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to click on this story, I promise there will actually be something here soon (me hopes)

I just need to write a couple of chapters first and generally get my head in gear for what I'm gonna do...

So yeah, enjoy

And if you haven't read my other CSI fanfic yet, maybe you can do that while you wait. And then again. And then again. Or maybe if you only read 1 chapter a day, I might have time to upload the 1st chapter of this before you get to the end! (but that's not a promise!)

Cheers again, I look forward to seeing your reviews in the future (hey, there's a bit of wishful thinking, eh!?)


	2. Chapter 1

**ok guys, this is up sooner than i'd anticipated due to the unbelievable support iv'e already had, despite not actually starting it yet! you're all amazing! it just goes to show that your reviews/favouriting really does make a difference, so keep up the good work, and so will I ;)  
this is a bit of an intro, just setting then scene a bit, I will get down to the real business once I decide on the plot fully ;) ahahaa (suggestions are very welcome), but for now, enjoy! x**

"I know, and I'm really sorry... thanks... yeah, that's fine, Abbie can entertain her for the day...haha won't she just!... thanks Sara, bye" Catherine sighed with relief.

"Hello?" Nick poked his head round the door. Catherine peered over the ever growing mountain of paperwork on her desk.

"oh, hey there Nicky!" she grinned, "come on in, here" Catherine tried to shift a pile of paper off a chair, from where it promptly scattered across the floor. "rats!" she exclaimed. Nick walked further in and picked up a case file nearest his feet.

"how's it going? Eugh, is this the bus driver? Wow!"

"yeah, I know, it's gross!" Catherine agreed. "aaargg!" she exclaimed as yet more paper fell from her desk. She frantically tried to stop the flow and picked up the floating sheets of paper.

"hey, take a break, you're way too stressed!" Nick said, concerned for his friend. "when's the new supervisor arriving?"

"well, supposedly 3 months ago, then 6 weeks ago, then last week, so, anytime soon hopefully!" Catherine sighed. "as long as I don't drown in this sea of paperwork before then..." she added, as an afterthought.

"there, now where do you want this?" Nick indicated to the stack of case files he had made.

"oh, just, anywhere! Find a space on a shelf or whatever! Thanks"

"no problem!" Nick grinned. "Right, all cleared up!"

"thanks Nick, don't know what I'd do without you!" Catherine grinned

"Don't worry, me either!" Nick added cheekily "so, have you managed to persuade anyone else to come in on their day off?" Nick asked.

"yep, Sara's coming in, but Morgan's with Greg, so she's not. Damn Greg having to go and get food poisoning on a day he's meant to work! As if we weren't short staffed enough already!"

"ah, you can't blame the little guy really, not when you think about how you can sit with your papers while he's throwing his guts up!" Nick chuckled

"to be honest, I'm not entirely sure I'd rather be me in the situation! See, look at this..." nick leant over Catherine's shoulder to read the paper she held up.

"you have to what?" Nick queried as he read the sheet in question.

"Time and management audit! As if I have the_ time_ to do that!" Catherine exclaimed. "stupid superiors, always -"

"hey, Catherine, I've got those results you –" Abbie broke off mid sentence when she noticed the scene before her. "I can come back later" she mumbled and started to back out the room"

"no, Abbie, it's fine, you haven't interrupted anything!" Nick chuckled at Abbie's humble, yet loud ways. Abbie was still a newbie, a lab tech who started 3 months ago, the day Grissom left, and she had already become a much loved, if babied, member of the grave shift CSI family. "so, what did you want?" Nick asked.

"well" Abbie said, stepping into the room, "I've got the tox results from the bus driver, nothing hugely exciting, just confirms that our gruesome bus driver was, in fact, intoxicated. With almost everything you can imagine... alcohol, cocaine, meth, even a cheeky bit of caffeine in there. No wonder he crashed the bus, with these levels of intoxification, wait, is that even a word? Who cares? anyway, I would be surprised if he could see past the end of his nose, never mind the edge of that mountain road! Well, one thing's for certain, I'm not going on public transport again!" Abbie finished triumphantly.

"has anyone ever mentioned, you have a tendency to talk fast and in large quantities?" Catherine grinned

"yes, ALL the time" Abbie responded with a grin, before turning on her heel, lab coat twirling, and skipped out the room happily"

"well, isn't she just a ray of sunshine!" Nick smirked "it's like having a mini, female, Greg around!" Nick and Catherine laughed.

"oh, and Abbie!" Catherine called Abbie turned around "Sara's coming with Katie, you have an extra lab assistant for the shift, enjoy!" Catherine grinned

"aha, cool, my favourite apprentice!" Abbie smiled as she retreated to her lab.

"so, moving on to this shift, despite the fact that I've been frantically calling people in, we don't actually have any new cases. Yet." Catherine explained, "so, for the moment, we can relax, and just finish any other work that I'm sure we all have. And if not, I will entrust you with some of mine!" Catherine said with a smile "so clear out and work!" she added

"whatever, _boss_!" nick chimed, as he made his way to the layout room to clear up and file away the bus driver case.

"no, Katie, please, I need to go to work, we can't make cupcakes today" Sara said.

"but you promised!" Katie wailed. "me wanna make cupcakes!" she cried

"_I want to_" Sara corrected, "and, I'm sorry, but we'll have to do it another day, cause Abbie's expecting you in her lab, and she'll be disappointed if you don't go and help her!" Sara sneakily added.

"I get to go be CSI with Abbie? Let's go!" Katie exclaimed, and ran towards the door.

"whoa whoa whoa!" Sara grabbed her arms and dragged her back to the bathroom. "you need to brush your hair fist, madam! Do you want people to think you're a wild woman from the jungle?" Katie giggled and picked up her hair brush "No, didn't think so! And have you eaten?" Sara looked at her watch "actually, no time for that, we need to go, come on!"

Sara sighed as she drove, listening to nursery rhymes blaring out the CD player, while her 7 year old foster child jiggled about in her car seat behind her. "How did this happen?" She wondered. "when did I become a working mum?". Sara thought back to when she first met Katie, a small, scared girl, with an abusive father, who she pushed down the stairs in self defence, killing him. At the time, she had no idea how big an impact that one little girl could have on her life, but now, 3 months down the line, she struggled to imagine life without her.

Admittedly, she did feel that she wasn't a good mother, abandoning her child at all hours for her work, but Katie seemed to enjoy it, and as Catherine had kindly offered Lindsey's services as a babysitter, the night-shift-mum plan wasn't going too badly. And she had impressed herself and all her colleagues with how well she and Katie got on. Though she had never told anyone other than Catherine the real reason why she did this in the first place. And even to Catherine, she hadn't been totally honest, only telling her that her mom killed her dad, not that her dad had also been abusive.

The secrets of her past still haunted her, and she couldn't bring herself to come clean to her friends, not while she felt so ashamed about it. She hadn't even told Katie. And she wasn't sure if she was going to, or what she would do if Katie ever asked.

But that wasn't a barrier she had to hurdle yet, as at the moment, Katie was content to live life with Sara, unquestioningly and go along with it. She was still small for a 7 year old, but looked much healthier, the only trouble was her schoolwork, as her dad had never helped her and it she had recently been discovered to be dyslexic, which only lead to her being further behind in class.

"are we nearly there yet?" an innocent voice disrupted Sara's thoughts.

"yeah, honey, look, we're just pulling into the car park now" Sara replied, as she searched for a space to park her SUV. "right come on then" Sara said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out the car to Katie's door. "let me see you undo your own belt!" Sara grinned, enjoying the whole 'mother' thing.

"yay, come on, come on" Katie ran off excitedly, in a hurry to get to Abbie's lab.

"Whoa, Katie WATCH OUT!" Sara yelled, as Katie stopped dead in her tracks, only just noticing the car driving towards her. She froze, as the car's brakes squealed, and it came to a stop a few metres in front of her. Sara ran across to her.

"hey Sara, control your child, this is a car park, not a playground!" Ecklie called, half joking, half serious. It was strange the effect a small child had had, but he seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for Katie. "I wouldn't want to run her down!" he added, as Sara and Katie moved across to allow him to pass.

"Katie what have I told you about running in the carpark?" Sara gasped, crouching down to Katie's eye level

"I'm..mmm... so..rry" she stammered through a steady flow of tears down her cheeks. The close encounter had shaken her up and she was trembling.

"it's ok sweetie, just don't do it again, ok?" Sara soother her, as she scooped her up into a cuddle and carried her across the lot into the lab.

"hey Sara, glad you could make it in, thanks" Catherine greeted her as she walked through the lab. She took in Katie clinging to Sara. "what's happened?"

"she had a close encounter with Ecklie's car, just a little shocked, that's all. But can't wait to play with Abbie, can you?" Sara added, to Katie. Katie shook her head.

"mwe gwo plway wiv abbwie" she said, looking up, while sucking her thumb. She always sucked her thumb when she was tired, upset or scared.

"ok, you know where to go" Sara said, putting her down and watching her run off, straight to Abbie's lab. "so, anything in particular to do?" Sara asked

"no, not yet, but I'm anticipating trouble, what with it being a Saturday and there's the NFL game starting at 7. Bound to be some team rivalry and fights" Catherine replied

"cool ,well I've just got to wrap up the case from yesterday, did we get the results from the bus driver yet?"

"yep, he was all drugged up"

"well that settles it then, sorted. So might be a relaxing shift then?!" Sara speculated, hopefully

"yeah, in your dreams" Catherine scoffed, and turned to go into her office, as Sara walked towards the layout room to talk to Nick.

**sooo, did you enjoy, or did you enjoy? (or was it rubbish?) please do tell; contrary to popular belief, writers aren't psychic, we do need you to tell us what you think ,that's what the "review" button if for ;)  
so if you liked it, that's always nice to know, it makes me happy to know people like my work,  
and if you didn't like it, tell me why, there's still plenty of time to make improvements ;)**

**Cheers :) xxx**


End file.
